Knowing the Past, Facing the Future
Indigenous Education in Canada
Knowing the Past, Facing the Future offers a sweeping account of Indigenous education in Canada, from the first treaty promises and the failure of government-run schools to illuminating discussions of what needs to change now to work toward reconciliation.
Description
In 1867, Canada’s federal government became responsible for the education of Indigenous peoples: Status Indians and some Métis would attend schools on reserves; non-Status Indians and some Métis would attend provincial schools. The chapters in this collection – some reflective, some piercing, all of them insightful – show that this system set the stage for decades of broken promises and misguided experiments that are only now being rectified in the spirit of truth and reconciliation. The contributors individually explore what must change in order to work toward reconciliation; collectively, they reveal the possibilities and challenges associated with incorporating Traditional Knowledge and Indigenous teaching and healing practices into school courses and programs.
Reviews
Readers who are new to the topic, such as practicing teachers who wish to enhance their responsiveness to Indigenous students or undergraduate history majors, will gain accessible historical and policy context, alongside complex and nuanced representatios of the challenges that pervade Indigenous education today.
- Heather E. McGregor
This book provides innovative reflections on long-standing issues in Indigenous education in Canada and suggests possible pathways to address the educational debt that Canada owes Indigenous peoples. I recommend it to educators, students, and administrators, to anyone interested in learning about the history of residential schools, and to all readers who are interested in reconciliation and decolonisation.
- Valentina de Riso, Nottingham Trent University